EPC, WPIAL top Pennsylvania scholastic leagues in 2018 NFL draft

Commissioner Roger Goodell presents Penn State's Saquon Barkley with his New York Giants jersey during the first round of the NFL draft.

Commissioner Roger Goodell presents Penn State's Saquon Barkley with his New York Giants jersey during the first round of the NFL draft. (David J. Phillip / AP)

The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference delivered one of the state’s top showings in the recent NFL draft, tying western Pennsylvania’s largest conference for the most selections.

The EPC and WPIAL each had three players drafted last month, delivering half of the former Pennsylvania high school players selected. Whitehall’s Saquon Barkley (New York Giants), Stroudsburg’s Sebastian Joseph (Los Angeles Rams) and Emmaus’ Kyzir White (Los Angeles Chargers) represented the EPC.

According to statistics compiled by USA Football, Pennsylvania tied Georgia for sixth among states with the most draft picks. Florida far outpaced the country with 35, followed by California and Texas (27 each), Virginia (15) and North Carolina (14).

Philadelphia’s Imhotep Charter was among 12 schools nationwide that had multiple former players drafted. Imhotep’s D.J. Moore went to Carolina and David Williams to Denver.

In all, according to USA Football, the 256 players picked through the seven-round draft represented 242 high schools. Thirty-eight states, and the District of Columbia, were represented.